Cinder Thief
by KatsaRose
Summary: Ella is a cunning servant with a dangerous secret. She's a thief. The infamous thief Cinder at that. All's well until she gets an anonymous request to steal the royal crown from the castle, a fatal task. But with the anonymous customer at her heels and threatening her with death, she has no choice but to attempt a thievery.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey. Hey! You there!" I inwardly groaned as I glanced up from the lock I was picking to see a guard rushing down the empty hall towards me. "What are you doing?!"

Thinking quickly, I stepped away from the lock, hoping he wouldn't notice the little pins sticking out of it, praising the gods that I had decided to 'borrow' some maid's clothes that would support my fib.

"Oh, don't mind me sir. I'm the new maid," I said in a Kyreian accent.

"You didn't answer the question. What were you doing?" he growled.

"I'm sorry sir." I said taking a timid step back. "I was just coming to help Lord Lyzander's daughter get ready for dinner, but the door is locked!"

"This isn't Lady Daphne's room," the guard stated bluntly, looking a little amused.

"It isn't?" I said, making myself look confused. Then I made my face light up in recognition, turning it into a blush as I rushed to say, "Oh, goodness. I must have made a wrong turn! This is the treasury room isn't it!"

The guard now looked quite amused as he nodded and told me to be on my way, I shouldn't want to keep milady waiting. We then parted ways to my relief.

"Sucker," I muttered as I walked away from him.

"What was that?" he asked, turning to me.

"Oh, I was just talking to myself. Don't mind me!" I cheerfully said. Pausing a second, he resumed walking, and as soon as he turned the corner I rushed back to the lock.

_Click_. The door opened to a dazzling sight. It always amused me how little time and effort these higher up people put into guarding their expensive gems and jewels. But I wasn't complaining. It made my job that much easier.

Tentatively, I stepped into the room and glanced about. There they were. Five perfectly cut diamonds. I just drooled at the sight of them, but they weren't for me. No. They were for a 'special' customer. Scooping them up into my bag and leaving my special mark, I quickly exited the room and closed the door behind me.

Deciding to keep the maid's clothes on, I snuck down the hall to the grand staircase. I had almost made it to the front door when another annoying guard called out to me, "Who goes there!"

"Just me, the new maid. I'm going out to the garden for my break," I called back, as I set my hand on the door praying he would just move along. But my luck had passed. Just then the guard I had run into earlier walked in. Curse my luck. Looking utterly dumbfounded he called out to me.

"Shouldn't you be attending to Lady Daphne?"

Caught in a difficult spot, I slowly opened the door and started inching outside. "She, um, didn't need any more help, and, um, she told me to have a quick break," I stuttered out.

Suddenly, one of the precious diamonds tumbled out of my bag. Being distracted by the stupid guards, I hadn't noticed the door pushing it out. Cover blown, I grabbed the diamond and ran.

"Thief! Thief! Stop her!" The guard called out as I weaved through the garden, dodging guards and gardeners left and right. My luck had come to an utter low.

I flipped over the fence. As I landed, I knocked the two guards unconscious that were stationed there. Slipping through the gates, I ran out onto the street.

When I thought I was out of the guards line of sight, I slipped into a side alley and ripped off my maid's clothes to reveal a simple, comfortable and most importantly, flexible dress underneath. I prefer pants and a loose shirt, but when in public that would draw to much attention.

I faded into the crowd that had begun to gather on the streets, wondering what all the commotion at the manor was about. Pausing to make sure I hadn't been spotted or recognized in anyway, I threaded through the crowd and exited into another alley before making my way to the rooftops.

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I slid through the window and set my bag down on the side table in my tiny room. It could very likely have been a large closet before I became a maid. Flopping down on my cot, I slowly worked my soft leather boots off my feet. Before I could drift off though, the bells on my wall started ringing.

"Ella! Sweep the floor!" called Amelia through the walls of the house.

"Ella! Come help with the laundry!" called Anastasia.

"Ella! Sew up my dress!" called Andromeda.

"The three As call me for duty again!" I mumbled as I oozed off the cot and onto the floor. Lying there I weighed the consequences of just lying here. Running on the rooftops is tiring. A sudden shriek of "Ella!" from Andromeda finally prompted me to get going.

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"Stupid Lyzander with his stupid diamonds. Stupid guards. Stupid bad luck. Stupid chores. Stupid Anastasia. Stupid Andromeda. Stupid Amelia," I muttered in my usual mantra as I went about my chores.

There's no satisfying the prissy, uptight women I work for. They claim that _they're_ the ones being generous and keeping me alive. When really I'm the one being generous by staying and keeping them from committing social suicide. That one time they were going to Daphne's birthday party, and they were going to wear green? Did they not know that Daphne hates green? Apparently not, because I was forced to spill ink on those ugly green dresses and forcing them to were the red ones. I was punished of course, no food for a day. I was glad I did it anyways, because the next day when the sisters came home from the party the only thing they talked about Olivia, who had worn a green scarf and had been completely ostracized by Daphne at the party.

Why I did this? Well, these grubby servant's clothes I wore was my coverup. I stole for a living and any good thief needs to be not only good at stealing, but also disappearing. When I had overheard this family had needed a maid, I volunteered. I did this because no one ever looks to the servants, 'they're not important'. But I knew better. Servants could go anywhere without being seen, and hear almost anything. They're almost invisible to the higher classes.

Well, except for stupid guards. They could see me, though they're almost servants themselves. Stupid guards.

A cough and a tap of the foot snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Thinking about your Prince Charming again, Ella?" Anastasia said in her shrill voice. Ugh, what is it about the girls and that 'Prince Charming'.

"Of course not Ana. I'm thinking about how best to smash your head into the banister without having the evidence of your dead body lead to me," I retorted in a sweet voice while I scrubbed the last bit of the floor and picked up my bucket of water and towel and walked off. I could just imagine Anastasia's confused face contorting into a fearful one.

I felt a little guilty whenever I treated her like that. She really wasn't as bad as her mother or older sister. But in my defense, I was in a bad mood after I had gotten so close to getting caught at Lyzander's house, and I was not prepared to be nice to people. I had work to do.

**A/N: End of Chapter 1, hoped you liked it! I'll try to update as often as possible. Sorry, but no guarantees on quick updates. Feel free to review!**


	2. Chapter 2

The black market was nearly invisible to the public eye. Not literally of course, magic wasn't real. It's just, they had no idea it existed. This was the result of the people in the black market being incredibly paranoid that the kingdom's army would find them. Even with their paranoia, they have still been discovered by the army multiple times, though they've always scattered and regrouped. The army has become more jumpy. And as the resentment and hate between the kingdoms has become more open, security in the kingdom has become a bigger and bigger issue. As a result, very few people stumble upon the black market by accident. I happened to be one of those few people.

I discovered the black market when I was quite young, seven years old actually. I was running away from an angry butcher with a large, slippery, unwrapped roast in my arms. I had begun to dabble in the art of alleyways, which I would later master, and had run down an alley… that led to a dead end.

Trapped, I had looked widely around the alley, trying to find something, anything useful in the few seconds I had before the butcher caught up to me. I caught a glimpse of a door, barely hidden by bags of trash. Making a split second decision, I swung the old wooden door open and jumped through, not really caring what was behind it as long as I got away from the knife wielding butcher.

What I found on the other side was not what I had expected in the least. I can't even really explain the market now, even though I've visited it hundreds of times. It's always changing, every day it's different. One day the market would look gloomy and hostile, another it would look as festive as the rest of the city on a celebration day, and many others it would look like any other market in the city.

The first day I was there, there was a celebration in progress. It was the eighth birthday of the crown prince Charming, that's his actual stupid name, and everyone had gotten into the spirit. Even back then, the whole kingdom of Sandaryn already knew for sure that Charming was going to turn out to be a bumbling fool of a king when his father King Haldor finally died. Even so, no one could pass up a day of celebration with all its singing, dancing, decorations, and sweets.

I explored much of the black market that day. I had actually stumbled in on quite a good day to do so, because no one noticed me, busy as they were with the festival. I overheard a lot, too. I learned that when casually referencing the market, the people would call it 'Red Fox' to avoid suspicion. Red Fox isn't as unusual a name as you would think. Many taverns or shops in the city are called even stranger names, like 'The Orange Platypus' or my personal favorite 'The Flying Blue Pig' whose motto was 'pigs really can fly!', to attract the attention of potential customers.

Not only did I explore and listen. I also stole. I wasn't stealing for money back then. I only stole for my life. I had been orphaned the year prior and lived off the streets. Finding the choice between begging and thievery, I chose the one my talents suited best. My sad life finally made a turn for the better the moment I stumbled on Red Fox one of the luckiest turn of my life.

Contrary to what you might think, the people of Red Fox were generally quite kind. So, when they finally did notice me, with my straggly clothes and gaunt face and after their initial surprise and shock of me finding Red Fox, they gave me food and clothes. I thrived under their care and didn't leave Red Fox for quite a while.

Later on, the other kids of Red Fox started noticing my talent for stealing. Probably because I was stealing their stuff. Being the instinctual person I was, I started to make bets with them to see if I could steal stuff from specific stands. Soon enough, I was winning every time and was gaining quite a bit of money. My talents became known to everyone in Red Fox by the time I was ten, and even adults started requesting I steal things for them and pay for it when I had retrieved it.

I had to scramble to make some rules for my newly forming 'business' so I wouldn't get pulled into a bad deal, debt or situation I couldn't get out of, as I had seen some people in Red Fox do. I made the customers pay in advance if I knew I would need some special tool for the task they requested that I didn't have already. I wouldn't steal something back from people I had stolen from, as that could easily result in a circle of revenge. I wouldn't met in person with people either. Too much of a risk of them taking any anger out on me, and I didn't want people to really know what I looked like. The was always the risk someone would rat me out, especially as I became more and more infamous. But my most helpful rule was I could decline offers I thought were too dangerous for me to attempt. At first people thought I was crazy to have such preposterous rules, but it soon paid off. I get much less crazy requests then others, people respect me, and I haven't been caught yet.

Later on, after a few incidents of me leaving cinders where I had stolen something, stupid chimney sweeps not doing their work, I adopted the code name of Cinder. It stuck, and now I leave my famous mark for all to see at every crime scene. It really riled up the local police. They never caught me or figured out where I was hiding even though I left a mark everywhere I went. This really proves my theory that servants are always overlooked.

I had always been scared of the day when I finally would be caught. I wasn't naive, I knew this paradise I had couldn't last forever. But while I could, I enjoyed my fame, glory, and comfort in Red Fox.

XXXXXXXX

Today, I would be sending the diamonds off to my customer, deal with regular business, and wait for payment, hopefully it wouldn't take too long and I could be back to the manor before sunrise and get some rest before tomorrow's chores.

I swung into what me and my assistants called 'HQ'. Greeting my secretary Sonya, the person who took note of requests for me and did the general paperwork for me, I walked into my personal room. I set the diamonds on the table and called for Grover.

"Hello, Cinder. How did the run go?" Grover asked me in his usual greeting.

"Fine. Just had a quick run in with some guards," I replied, pulling out a pen and paper.

"What!? Cinder, you know you can't let them see you!" Grover exclaimed. He was always so worried about me. It was kind of cute.

"Don't worry, Grover. They won't remember my face. It was pretty dark and I never looked at them directly. You know I always, well usually, take the proper precautions," I told him, copying down an address, putting the pen in my mouth, and wrapping the diamonds up in cloth.

"But Cinder—"

Cutting into Grover's rebuke I said, "You know the drill. Here's the prize. Deliver it the this address. A shadowy figure in a hood will take it and leave some money. It he doesn't. Stop him and make him give you money." Handing him the cloth I shooed him out the door. Ignoring his protests I shut it behind him.

Thinking again, I opened it and called out, "And do it quick, no dilly-dallying this time. And Sonya? Bring in any reports you have when they're ready." After a protest from Grover and a nod from Sonya I shut the door again and settled back into my comfy chair, which I had made myself in my free time out of some… borrowed tools and materials.

Picking up a pen, I twirled it in between my fingers absentmindedly as I thought about how devoted the members of my group were. Grover, Sonya, and all of my other helpers all knew the risk they took in helping me. But they took it anyways. It was always nice to know that there were people out there who cared about you, not just for the money, which I paid quite generously. Many of them cared out me as a real person. It made me feel quite good inside.

The saddest part about this was I knew a couple of them, like Grover, had a slight crush on me. I didn't really know why they liked me, I wasn't definitely not the nicest person in the world, I knew and acknowledged it, and I knew I could never fit into that role for them. Not only did they not appeal to me, but I wanted to be a free soul for as long as possible, as cliche as it sounds. At least until I couldn't do my work anymore and had to settle down somewhere.

"Cinder?" Startled, I fell out of my chair in an undignified manner, pen clattering to the floor next to me. "Oh dear! Are you all right!" Sonya bustled around the desk and helped me up, spilling her papers, previously stacked up very neatly, all over the floor in the process.

"It's fine. It's fine. I was just startled, that's all," I assured Sonya while I helped her pick up all the papers.

"I'm so sorry. When you didn't answer my knock, I decided to walk in to see what was going on."

Blushing by how caught up in my thoughts I'd been, I picked up the last of the papers and told Sonya to report what she'd recorded since I'd last been here.

"You received twenty requests. Busy day. One is from Garron, asking again for you to steal the invisible cloak—"

Groaning I mumbled, "Doesn't he realize no such thing exists! It's a myth, a fable! There's is no such thing as magic!" as I spun around in my chair. "We're still not accepting.

"Thought so. Anyway, another from Caesar asking for a rare… bunny… from Kyreian."

"Does he give any hints on _how_ to even locate this bunny? Or even what it looks like?" I asked incredulously, sometimes we get such weird requests, though at least I can decline them.

XXXXXXXX

An hour later, after painstakingly sorting through the rest of the requests, we came to the final one.

"And then there's. This one. It was brought by an anonymous messenger. They're requesting…" Sonya faded out, looking very uncomfortable and even slightly scared. Apprehensive of what she would say, I encouraged her to go on. After a pause and a big swallow, she continued. "They requested you steal the royal crown."

"What!?" I said, leaping out of the chair. Trying, unsuccessfully to control my surprise at the prospect. I asked again incredulously, "What did they request?"

"They requested, that you steal the royal crown," Sonya squeaked. I just stared openmouthed.

"Do they realize that that's basically asking for death?"

"I believe so."

"Then why would they even think I would except this request?" I cried.

"Because they said that if you didn't, they'd hunt you down and kill you," Sonya whispered. Speechless, I just stood there for a minute.

"Who is this person that thinks that they can just order me about. They could never catch me, I have too many resources," I finally said.

"I didn't want to mention this before, but the messenger said something about working for 'The Crown' as the messenger called them."

I made a pitiful sound before falling back into my chair and covering my face.

"Who's 'The Crown', Cinder?"

"Only one of the most influential, powerful, and unstoppable people in the black market," I mumbled.

Sonya looked surprised, "Then why have I never heard of him before?"

"Because he rarely reveals himself to anyone. I wouldn't know about him except that one of my runs led me to find some information about him."

"That explains it. But what does it mean for you?"

"It means I'm dead. So incredibly dead. I have no way out of this deal. It's a catch 22," I lamented, sinking deeper and deeper into my chair. There were very few outcomes to this situation: I could decline the 'request' and would be hunted down and killed, I could try for the crown but be caught and put in jail for the rest of my life, or I could successfully get the crown, delivered it to The Crown and live happily ever after. My life had come to what I thought was an utter low. I was going to have to try to steal the royal crown.

Sonya cleared her throat, bringing me out of my pit of despair. "So what are we to say to them?" She asked.

"We're going to have to accept. But tell them they will have to allow me a lot of time, probably a month or two, to complete the order," I told her. Continuing to speak, I started scribbling down notes, "I'll have to devote all my time to getting that crown. No more requests until my death threat has passed. Ugh, people might try to kill me _anyway_ for not excepting any requests. It is so official. My life is pitiful." Rambling on, I barely noticed as Sonya sneaked out of the room to send the message.

XXXXXXXX

Six hours later, I was so going to regret this tomorrow when I would be doing chores on no sleep, I was still planning and preparing for my biggest break-in yet, when the door suddenly burst open.

"Cinder! Cinder! The Crown sent a reply! You won't believe what it says!" Sonya shouted, handing the piece of paper to me. Grabbing it from her, I quickly read what it said and collapsed to the floor. I had thought my life couldn't get any worse. I was so completely wrong.

The paper fluttered to the ground reading:

_It was a good choice to accept my request_

_But your deadline has been set_

_You have two weeks to hand the crown over to me_

_or your life is mine to destroy or keep_

**A/N: End of Chapter 2. I hope you liked it! Feel free to review and help me improve as this is only my first story!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Ella!" a shriek ripped through the air, making me lose my balance on the windowsill and fall face flat on the floor. Wishing for the umpteenth time that I didn't have to climb through my tiny window to get into my room without being seen, I got up and rubbed my poor nose.

"Come here right now!" the voice shouted again, raising an octave.

"Coming!" I yelled back as I pulled on my maid's clothes, which consisted of a slate blue calf length skirt, a lighter blue elbow length shirt, and a sky blue apron. Obviously, blue was the three As favorite color. Then, I flew down the hall. Pausing outside the door, I tucked my hair under a ocean blue headscarf and straightened out my apron. Finally, I walked in.

"Where were you?!" Amelia, head of the house, demanded.

"I was sweeping the chimneys," I lied. Truthfully, I had been so busy with trying to figure out how I was going to break into the castle in just two weeks, an impossible task I was becoming more and more aware of, I had almost forgotten that I had an appointment to keep at all until Sonya had mentioned it. I had then left her in the dust as I had sprinted out the door and out onto the streets.

I wouldn't even bother coming back to this awful house except that I knew that if I wasn't able to get the crown, it wouldn't be good for me to be unwelcome at my best hiding place.

"Were you?" Amelia asked in her usual skepticism.

"Would I lie to you?" I replied in my usual sarcasm.

"Andromeda, go check the chimneys."

"But Mother! If she didn't sweep them, I'll get all sooty. Then, I won't be able to go to the ball tonight!" Andromeda exclaimed.

"Andromeda, you can just get Ella to wash it off," Amelia sighed.

"But—"

"What ball!" I demanded interrupting their argument. Why hadn't I heard of this! I always heard gossip right off the press! It was uncanny how much it affected my orders and I always made sure to know exactly what was going on. Yet, I had only been gone the night and Andromeda had said the ball was today!

"Wouldn't you like to know," Andromeda said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"I would like to know," I said, not coming even close to falling for Andromeda's bait. "Would someone like to explain why I haven't heard a peep of this ball tonight, even though I haven't been occupied but a few hours?"

As usual, Andromeda just sat there pouting and Amelia looked contemptuous. Finally Anastasia spoke up, "Last night we received a message from the castle. When we read what it said, we called for you and your fellow servants to tell you all. But you didn't come."

"It was windy last night, I probably didn't hear you over the noise," I said thoughtfully, trying to keep my cover for my absence last night afloat. "Anyways, I'm here now. Tell me what it said.

"Like we would tell you!" Andromeda pouted as Anastasia glanced over at her like she wished she had never been born to this family, reminding me that she was actually quite smart. She had just grown up around bad influences. I wished I talked to her more.

I caught her eye. She nodded and began to explain, "The royal messenger brought an invitation to a ball at the castle. Actually it's not a ball, it's a masquerade and all eligible young ladies have been invited. Apparently that includes servants, so long as you have a dress and transport."

"Why would they do this now?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me like I was blind. I just stared back with my perfectly intact eyes. "It's Prince Charming's sixteenth birthday next week! And that means that it's time for him to marry! Everyone's saying he's going to pick his bride at this masquerade!" Andromeda cried out, breaking the silence.

I mentally slapped my forehead. Of course! How could I forget! I must have been so caught up in the royal crown business that I didn't remember… that gave me an idea.

"So, when will this ball be happening?" I asked.

"Sunset to sunrise for three night, starting tonight," Anastasia stated. Wonderful.

"And this would be in the ballroom, correct?" A plan had started to form in my head. Anastasia hesitantly answered,

"Yes, but why—" "So, what chores will I have to do before you go to the ball?" I interrupted. Amelia went on to make a long list of trivial tasks I had to complete, like sewing up their dresses or fetching water from the well. They liked to pick on me and always gave me the most chores. After she finished, I repeated them back to her, assuring her I would have them done by sunset.

Then, I turned the the door and opened it.

"Where are you going?" Anastasia said, probably surprised I hadn't protested against some of the sillier tasks I had received, like I usually did.

"I have a ball to get ready for," I replied before shutting the door behind me.

**A/N: End of Chapter 3. I hope you liked it! Isn't my favorite so far; it was quite short and had a lot of dialogue… was it too much dialogue or no? Tell me! Feel free to review and help me improve! Ask questions too! I'll try my best to answer them as long as they don't potentially ruin the story for others.**

**Umpteenth is an awesome word.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, of course prince Charming!" an annoying voice said, interrupting my scouting and forcing me to scurry behind a bush before a trio of much to sparkly humans rounded the corner. I quietly observed as who I assumed to be the prince and two pampered ladies sauntered to a stop in front of my hiding place. _How coincidental_, I thought. _They could have stopped anywhere, but no, they stop right here_.

"We'd do anything for you!" the other lady said. Fluttering her baby blue fan that matched her dress which had way too much lace and frills for my taste.

"I do agree with Abigail," the first one agreed. In contrast to the now named Abigail, she had on a bright orange dress with a disgustingly low neckline and a giant hairdo. I hated both of them immediately.

"I do appreciate it ladies. I do always love the help," the prince said in a pampered voice, confirming the group in front of me as three hundred percent awful.

"You're completely welcome," the ladies said together, curtsying so deep I thought they would fall, not that I wouldn't have enjoyed it.

They all paused for a second. Then the two ladies exchanged a quick look. I could see the prince sweating. Just as Abigail opened her mouth, the prince cut in.

"You two ladies are attending the ball, correct?"

"Oh yes!" the two exclaimed.

"I'll give your payment there then," the prince said, taking a step away from the women, but before he could get more then a few steps, Abigail had rushed in front of him.

She hurriedly said, "Oh, we thought you could pay us now."She fluttered her eyelashes. I suddenly figured out exactly what was coming and did not want any part in it.

"But I don't have the coins with me…" Could he really be that oblivious? Abigail and her friend seemed a little perplexed at first too, but they quickly hide it.

"But I will have the proper amount by the ball! Goodbye Abigail, Emilia!" he said, beaming at the two women and taking another step back.

Seeing her opportunity beginning to slip away, Abigail pushed the now named Emilia out of the way, and ended up very close to the prince's face.

"Oh I didn't mean that kind of payment," she said in a dreamy voice, leaning in for a kiss.

Emilia and I both held our breath. Probably for completely different reasons. Abigail closed in, just an inch away from the beet red cheeks of the prince's face.

Then, the prince tripped, falling flat on his butt.

"S-so sorry. I think I hear my father calling. D-duty calls you know, or something like that," he stuttered as he fled the scene.

Emilia giggled, and Abigail reddened then laughed along with her. Then they walked away, tittering all the way. They were probably talking about just how much trouble they could get the prince into if they spread the rumor that he was kissing girls in the royal gardens. I just rolled my eyes. I had heard the prince was an oblivious fool, but not quite like what I had just witnessed. At least he had enough sense to flee. I waited until the ladies had walked off towards the castle before continuing my observation of the castle and gardens.

I was preparing myself for the event that I would have to flee the ball. Already, I had found quite a few exits out of the ballroom and scouted out the best routes through the garden to the forests surrounding the castle. It was quite routine for me to do this, though I had rarely done it with the castle as most of the missions there I declined. I always let other people take the suicide tasks. At least, until now.

I decided that I had scouted as much as I could with the little time I had and began heading back to the manor.

It was time to find a disguise.

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Pulling the string, I emitted a grunt of pain. I hated corsets, but I would have to wear them if I was going to blend in at the ball.

Though it shames me to admit it, I like dresses. At least, looking at them and feeling them, not wearing them. I could just see the value floating off the dresses that surrounded me in my tiny room. That red velvet bodice, this satin skirt, the lace trimming, it all taunted me in its beauty. I would never be as beautiful as her in these dresses…

I quickly shook the thought off before it consumed me and focused myself on my goal: to find a dress that would be pretty enough to not make people question my presence, but not so pretty to bring unwanted attention to myself. It would be hard enough with those perimeters in just any old dress shop, but no, I had to settle for my mother's chest of her best dresses which I had hidden away before the new land owners could throw it out. I had also swiped a few other dresses over the years from some wealthy ladies when I just couldn't pass them by when stealing something else. Making me stuck. I didn't have a 'in-between' dress like I was looking for! I had either rags or diamonds. I had destroyed all the 'in-between' dresses I had ever bought in the process of fleeing a theft.

The biggest problem was I didn't dare go out to buy a new dress tonight. When I had stolen the crown, one of the first places any logical police would go was to the dress shops to see if someone had seen me. No way was I taking that kind of risk. Besides, I barely had enough time to get ready as it. Stupid time consuming scouting and chores. I would just have to pick one of these dresses, though it pained me to think that I might, actually almost inevitably, ruin them.

I sighed as I turned to my last resort.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by the toe, if he hollers, let him go, my mother says to pick the very best one and you are it," I recited, finger landing on a glimmering silver dress. Groaning, I thought, At least it wasn't that diamond one over there.

Slipping into the dress and its matching shoes I quickly did up the back. Then I rushed over to my tiny dresser and did up my hair in a nice bun with some blonde curls hanging down my back and around my ears with a few razor sharp hairpins stuck in for good measure. I lightly dusted my cheeks with rogue and painted my eyelids with silvery blue and lips red. I found a silver mask that covered half my face, deciding that if anyone asked, I was dressing up as the moon for the masquerade. Then I stuck in sharp things wherever they could fit, even going as far as cutting a hole into the inside of my dress to fit my favorite dagger in. For a final touch, I clipped a silver locket around my neck, glad that I'd have at least one good luck charm with me.

I glanced once more at the mirror before flinging the door open.

"I'm ready."

**A/N: I am so sorry everyone! The procrastination monster came and trapped me in his castle. Only when my friend came and valiantly rescued me from its awful dungeons have I been able to get back to writing! **

**Please feel free to comment and question my story! (A review a day keep the procrastination monster away!) Follows and favorites are appreciated too!**


	5. Notice to Readers

Dear readers,

This story is currently on hiatus if you haven't noticed.

This _does not_ mean I have abandoned it, in truth I am doing a lot with it.

The plotline is changing, the world is expanding, and my writing skills are improving.

I would be happy to give tidbits of what I'm working on to those interested. Feel free to PM me.

Thank You,

KatsaRose


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